Get 5GB of free, ultra-secure storage

(MoneyWatch) Cloud storage services are a dime a dozen -- Dropbox, Cubby, SkyDrive, Box, SugarSync and more. Does the world really need yet another? Perhaps. Especially if this new online storage service is locally encrypted for added security.

Tresorit is perhaps the newest cloud storage service to hit the Net, and it is decidedly Cubby-like, in the sense that you can right click any folder on your PC and "tresor it," which automatically mirrors that folder online. I like this trend in cloud storage because it means you don't have to disrupt your ordinary folder organization just to keep certain files or folders online.

The service has a friendly desktop client app that lets you track your "tresored" folders, see how much space is available and invite users to share folders with you. But Tresorit's real selling point, of course, is its encryption.

All of your tresored files are encrypted with military-grade AES-256 before they every leave your PC, and then uploaded via secure, TLS-protected channels. What does that mean? In essence, according to their claims, even Tresorit can't peek at your files. To prove how secure their system is, Tresorit is inviting hackers to try to break the company's encryption with a purse of $10,000 for anyone who can do so. The challenge started last week, and so far the money is still up for grabs.

You can install the Tresorit client for Windows today, and versions for iOS and Android are coming soon. There's no web access to your files, though -- something you might miss if you're a user of Dropbox (or pretty much any other cloud storage service).